Soccer Season is Here!
Saturday, September 13th, 2008Today was the first soccer game for my youngest, and I was at the game with camera in-tow!
Here are some tips for sports photography:
- Fast shutter speed is a must if you want to capture action - 1/1000 sec or faster is best. I used shutter-priority mode and let the camera dynamically determine the appropriate aperture.
- In order to get that fast a shutter speed, you might have to bump the ISO up a bit depending on how bright it is out. I was able to get away with an ISO of 200 because it was full sun today, and hot!
- Continuous auto-focus is also a must, especially if your little soccer star is running towards you or away from you (i.e. the distance is changing faster than if they were running past you). Most DSLRs have this as an option.
- A long lens is a must. I used my 70-200mm f/2.8 with VR.
- A monopod is also helpful to add that extra bit of stability.
Even with all of this effort, you are probably going to have more throw-away shots then you would if you were just shooting a bunch of kids playing around. I shot around 330 pictures, and ended up with 38 that I thought were worth keeping.
Some sample shots are below …
– BK
